Bioethics in Social Context

Summary

In summary, I have argued that this difficulty in attending and recognizing is tied to restrictive methodological assumptions about the field of bioethics. These restrictive assumptions are not just unfortunate blindspots, but potentially disabling forces to those who are most vulnerable and powerless in medical interactions. I have also argued that placing bioethical inquiry in the larger context of other humanities and social science disciplines will help to counter this methodological parochialism. The distinct advantage of placing bioethics in social context is that an interdisciplinary setting makes it less likely that we will be seduced by the intellectual glamour, or the intuitive emotional appeal, of any single approach to moral problems. Resisting a hyper-theoretical approach to the methods of bioethics will make for greater agility in problem-solving, and more resilience in facing those problems that cannot be solved. It will, in the end, make for better health professionals and for better patient care.